All passport service at US embassies/consulates comes back as if it’s expedited service even as there is no fee for such applicable.

At US embassies/consulates, it’s only in the event of a mess-up that the passport card would ever arrive before the passport.

4-6/7 business days from application to passport availability at the major missions seems to be the norm from what I’ve seen as of late. Passport card comes back about the way you saw it. Keep in mind that if the passport card is meant to be picked up at the mission and isn’t picked up after it arrives there, then 90 days later the passport card could be on its way out for disposal.

I applied for my passport renewal via the online renewal pilot program on June 5, and I marked that I had a future travel date within 14 days, despite the system saying I shouldn't apply for a passport via the online renewal service if that was the case (I figured I may as well get the process started, and if the passport didn't arrive, I could just cancel my international trip). I was able to get an appointment in San Francisco for "urgent travel" as I assumed my passport wouldn't arrive before my June 17 departure (pro tip, if you need a last minute passport, reach out to your congress rep's office, they can help you get appts).

Shockingly, I got an email this afternoon saying my passport has shipped - don't have the arrival date yet (just the shipping label has been created via USPS), but has anyone heard of a passport being turned around in a week's time? I'm hoping it's not a glitch, but worst case I do have an appointment on June 16 for a last minute passport if necessary. Hoping I don't have to go to it though !

4/15/22 Applied for four minor passports at two appointments due to scheduling (1&3, two different USPS locations). Standard service. No travel dates listed.
4/25/22 All "in process" at location #69
6/10/22 Single appointment delivered.
6/11/22 3x appointments delivered

Now off to the LA consulate to get their Italian passports.

answered

It is not.

From the link which I posted above:

State really should update that language to say something like this: “I am aware that my most recent passport will be immediately invalidated when I submit my application and I ***will not*** use it for international travel.”

The passport is to be rendered electronically invalidated with that kind of online renewal application submission. But I’m just waiting to see when someone gets caught using a US passport electronically invalidated by way of this kind of online renewal process.

Requested expedited service with expedited mailing. Renewed one adult passport (using mail-in DS-82) and two child passports (in-person using DS-2 form):

Adult Passport:
4/26: Mailed application using DS-82 renewal form filler
4/27: Delivered
4/29: In process (Locator number 34: Charleston)
5/2: Check cashed
5/18: Approved
5/19: Shipped from Tucson
5/20: Arrived
As of today, the old passport has yet to arrive.

Child 1 Passport:
4/26: Submitted application at passport agency using DS-2 form filler
4/29: In process (Locator number 69: Portsmouth, NH or Philadelphia)
5/2: Check cashed
5/19: Approved
5/20: Shipped from Little Rock
5/21: Arrived
5/28: Old passport arrived

Child 2 Passport:
4/26: Submitted application at passport agency using DS-2 form filler
4/29: In process (Locator number 69: Portsmouth, NH or Philadelphia)
5/2: Check cashed
5/19: Approved
5/20: Shipped from Little Rock
5/21: Arrived
5/28: Old passport arrived

Overall, relatively fast turnaround, and much faster than the quoted 8-10 weeks!

Were any of these next generation passports?

Actually, the quoted timeline for expedited service is 5-7 weeks. The timeline of 8-10 weeks is under normal processing.

What office name was on the return address line? National Passport Center?

I think the claim is that the name of the office identifies the processing office, not the city. (Mine was from Western Passport Center, also a Sterling VA PO Box)

Received next generation passport with 10 year validity today. The system showed "Approved" on 6/13, although the passport was issued on 6/9. Overall about 3 weeks time. The express mail envelope came from Tucson, AZ with a return address from New Orleans, LA.

Has anyone applied using the online route recently? If so could you post timeline please

Don't remember. If you can read the postmark, what is there to learn from the return address?

Fair point! Mine wasn’t postmarked for some reason.

Magic!

David

Only the adult one was a nextgen passport.

Yes, you are correct. My brain is getting foggy!

Better than a brain cloud...


David

Headed to NYC for an expedited passport, in-person renewal. Nervous that for some reason they wont be able to issue it. I have travel within two weeks. Fingers crossed! Any tips/tricks for those that have done onsite passport renewal in NYC?

can I bring a briefcase w laptop to work while I wait or do they restrict bringing bags/purses into the building? I read no food/drink except bottle of water.

I’ve waited inside Chicago, DC, NYC and a few other passport agency offices with the very electronics that would mean a rejection for the average US passport applicant seeking to apply in person at US embassies/consulates. The screening is for rejecting weapons, and they reject food and drink because of the mess it means. Assuming the briefcase fits into an x-ray scanner, it should be fine.

I wanted to share my NYC in person experience. The staff were extremely friendly (caring and empathetic, in fact) as people waited. I did it same day w 48 hour travel plans and it came back same day. Almost everyone’s did and there were hundreds of people there. It took the entire day. Went at 9 and got it at 6. Lines are out the door, no power outlets, lots of bureaucratic waiting, but if you’re prepared to waste a whole day, It’s the way to go

anyone know when the process will go electronic?

if not, I’d return to NYC if I could get an appointment on my next renewal.

What sort of passport did you receive? Was it the "Next Generation" one with the polycarbonate data page or the old style they've been issuing f:or a while now?

Data point. Sent to the US embassy in Bern, Switzerland:

Mailed: 8 June
Received at the embassy: 10 June (no further correspondence then or afterwards)
Issue date: 13 June
Postmark on return envelope: 17 June
Received Next Gen Passport: 20 June 22 June (checked the tracking number on the envelope, with A post it _should_ have arrived on 20 June).

Expired passport was in self-addressed stamped envelope with new passport. While I had provided postage for registered mail, it was only sent A+, which apparently included a tracking number which I never was informed of. Passport has 50 pages, which I will likely not use more than a couple as I only travel with the US passport into the USA, as I'm a dual citizen of USA/Switzerland.

The only hint I had that the passport was in work was the message the Mobile Passport Control App sent me. I couldn't read it as I had forgot my PIN. :-/

For the in-person same-day emergency service, can you book the ticket last minute? Do they look at the issue date? If today I booked an appointment for July 6th, then buy an international ticket on July 5th, will this be OK?

They generally don’t care about the ticket issue date. I’ve used same-hour ticketed bookings over the years without issue.

Next Generation and ticket issue date was not an issue.

Online, non expedited renewal: 4 weeks 2 days from submission to "shipped" email.

Jun 25 edit: received 52pg old version.

If you are making an appointment for emergency travel service, they may not return your passport to you same day if your flight is not departing that day.

I got a 7am appointment for today at a passport center that is about a 3 hour drive from my house (if no traffic). It was all I could get. I had booked a flight for tomorrow, out of my home city airport. I drove up last night night and stayed in a hotel. After two hours, I got in and they accepted everything. The agent told me to return tomorrow to pick up my passport at 1pm. I said that I thought it was same-day service, and they told me that is only if you are traveling that day. I said that I live 3 hours away, that my flight out of my home city is at 7pm, and I said that I might not have time to drive 3 hours even make my flight tomorrow. Plus I'd have to either stay another night in a hotel or drive 6 hours back and forth. The agent said that was the policy, and had the gall to say "I actually like the drive down to [my city]." I pleaded, and the agent said I could authorize someone to pick it up for me, that I could pick my passport up tomorrow at 1pm, or that I could not pick it up at all.

Have experienced the same kind of “come back tomorrow for pick-up” thing at the Chicago office. It’s not a new dynamic.

When we applied for our passport, the only one who get the nextgen passport is my minor kid. The adult got the old one.

I was updating our current flights with the new passport information and noticed that my wife got the NextGen passport.

What is the advantage of the Nextgen passport - (it has 1 less page/book per what I've read which is a disadvantage for me) - but is it more secure? My old one was supposed to be able to be machine read with a strip on the bottom - but that often didn't work - maybe the new one would?

duplicate

I see no general advantage from the NextGen passport as a passport user. Someone told me “great, it’s more spill resistant”, but I’ve seen the fusses that can be made even when the passport’s biodata page isn’t damaged. The same person then said “it’s also more tear-resistant”, but there is a downside to the extent that is the case too.

I’m still not around to seeing if abroad the chip reads more reliably in NextGen passports than in the ones I mostly use. But either way, I’m going to stick to mainly using my legacy version passports (issued this year) for my ordinary travel on a US passport for quite some time and then some.

If your passport is of the 10-year validity sort and currently nearing expiration, then maybe you will get a hint about a concern that was out there previously:

https://www.afar.com/magazine/the-de...-your-passport

Either way, NextGen or legacy version, the passports work just fine as usual, so not something to worry about.

Thanks - I just didn't see any advantage (but the disadvantage of losing a page) to the nextgen, but since I don't have a choice and need to renew my pp it doesn't matter. I just was wondering why some people seemed to be wanting the new one ;)

5 weeks from online (non-expedited) submission to arrival. Thrilled with that outcome.

The polycarbonate data page used in the Nextgen passport is not likely to get creased / damaged. I've seen issues in the past with the standard paper(ish) page getting bent / creased by airline agents who are careless or through use of passport holders where the corners wrinkle through repeated inserti:on. We tend to use our passports a lot and 10 years is a long time and provides a great deal of opportunity for wear and tear.

I prefer the physical flexibility of the older passports. The plastic data page in the NextGen, plus the semi-rigid plastic cover on all electronic passports, makes me feel like I'm carrying a brick in my pocket.

Data point.

Child, first time passport, expedited with 1-2 day return. No SSN (submitted affidavit) since child is newborn and SSN not received at time of application.

Applied- at local post office - 24 June 2022
In process- 29 June 2022
Check cashed- 29 June 2022
Approved - 11 July 2022
Shipped- 11 July 2022
Received via UPS - 13 July 2022 before 12pm.

The polycarbonate page in my Norwegian passport turned brittle and came loose while entering Jamaica on my honeymoon. Granted, that was a design flaw and Norway started issuing polycarbonate passports 20 years before the US did.

Still, it was a huge hassle. When I received my first US passport, I was relieved to see it was the older design with a laminated paper biodata page.